Cleaning up spills

[Condor]

What's the best way to clean up large spills on carpet? I had somewhat of a leak recently. Thanks,

Adrian

[oodi]

Adrian,

Invest in a Hoover SteamVac. I originally bought mine for cleaning carpet, but it gets more use cleaning up after over filling a tank! :undecided

Judi
:)

[Condor]

Thanks Judi. Would a dehumifier help?

[Condor]

Do I need to worry about the padding underneath? Leak was probably 5-10 gallons. Would hate to have to move the tank and pull up carpet.

[alpine]

Maybe pull carpet at one end of room and put a powerfull fan under carpet to blow for a couple of days. Get a dehumidifier, it is going to get humid.Dry as much as posible to avoid mildew ..
Good Luck,
roberto.

[Cosmo]

You call 5 to 10 gallons a leak... HA! I laugh at your puny leak .. LOL :o

Don't know if I posted this in the general forum or not, but a few weeks back I accidentally turned on the fill pump instead of the mech filter right before leaving the house to go grocery shopping (switches are close, but not that close... I was just having a stupid moment) .... how does, ummm... 100 gallons sound for a leak :o Walked in the house an hour or so after shopping and it was literally raining in the downstairs dining room (below the second floor tank). Know it was about 100 gal cause the amount left in the storage tanks :p

Now THAT's a leak.. LOL

Didn't have to worry about carpet though.. hardwood floors :) Fortunately, the house is just under 100 years old and the wood is essentially petrified... water passed thru the floors and walls from the second floor to the basement... no warping of the wood at all, just had to replaster a wall on the first floor and some patching in the basement :antlers:

Anyway... a wet/dry vac will work well too, but yes, you do need to worry about the liner, especailly if it's sitting on wood floors. The fans will definately help, but won't do anything for under where the tank sits :( If the carpet sits on linoleum... no problems

Something you might want to look into... I got a auto shutoff relay with a float switch from Jehmco and installed it in series with the on/off switch to the fill pump. Water pushes the float up, the relay kills the power and turns off the pump.. works like a charm. I would highly recommend this setup to anyone with a tank anywhere other than the garage or unfinished basement...

Especially if you might tend to be careless like I was :o

Good luck with your cleanup :)

Jim

[Condor]

Thanks guys. Leak actually came from my fluval-didn't reseal it properly after a water change. Guess I learned my lesson there. Probably move the tank today, although the weird thing is that it does not seem wet underneath the tank, just around the tank-though to get to those spots I'll have to move the tank anyways.

Adrian

[oodi]

Adrian,

I also use a tabletop fan and put it on the floor, so it blows on the wet area. If you have a ceiling fan, turn it on too.

We had an overflow just last week... we moved the fish, and moved the tank... just as you've noticed, the area underneath the tank wasn't wet.

Judi
:)

[Anonapersona]

For small spills, I use a Bissell Spot Lifter. It won't hold a lot of water but for a few gallons it is fine, you just have to empty a couple of time. It is also great with cat spit up and minor sticky spills from food and drink, especially when combined with a spray bottle of dilluted Oxiclean.

[Condor]

Well, thanks for your help. I moved the tank yesterday and everything is drying out nicely. No funky stuff under the carpet either so thats good. Thanks again.

Adrian

[Greg Richardson]

Next time use a wet/dry shop vac.
Take filter out and suck up the water that way.
Use heavy duty fan aimed at rug.
Works for me.

[Elcid]

I've always used towels :)....Get them all while the wife's not looking....lay each one down and walk on them until water is absorbed....ring out towels and reuse as necessary then straight into the washer and dryer!

hth
Sandeep